The present invention relates to the art of medical diagnostic imaging. It finds particular application in conjunction with imaging apparatus such as nuclear or gamma cameras of the type use in single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), whole body nuclear scans, positron emission tomography (PET), etc., and will be described with reference thereto. However, it is to be appreciated that the present invention is also amenable to other like applications and other imaging modes.
Diagnostic nuclear imaging is used to study a radionuclide distribution in a subject. Typically, in SPECT for example, one or more radiopharmaceuticals or radioisotopes are injected into a subject. The radiopharmaceuticals are commonly injected into the subject""s blood stream for imaging the circulatory system or for imaging specific organs which absorb the injected radiopharmaceuticals. One or more gamma or scintillation camera detector heads, typically including a collimator, are placed adjacent to a surface of the subject to monitor and record emitted radiation. The camera heads typically include a scintillation crystal which produces a flash or scintillation of light each time it is struck by radiation emanating from the radioactive dye in the subject. An array of photomultiplier tubes and associated circuitry produce an output signal which is indicative of the (x, y) position of each scintillation on the crystal. Often, the heads are rotated or indexed around the subject to monitor the emitted radiation from a plurality of directions to obtain a plurality of different views. The monitored radiation data from the plurality of views is reconstructed into a three dimensional (3D) image representation of the radiopharmaceutical distribution within the subject.
Generally, a complete diagnostic nuclear imaging study includes the coordination of several steps in order to achieve clinically significant and useful results. Those steps can be broken down as follows: preparing the subject including injecting the subject with the radioactive dye, positioning the subject properly in relation to the imaging apparatus, acquiring the data, processing and presenting the images, clinical interpretation, and optionally archiving of the images.
The image processing can be computationally complex and relatively time intensive and so it is typically carried out by a computer system. In previously developed diagnostic imaging techniques, in addition to overseeing the other steps of the imaging study, image processing or reconstruction is explicitly directed and attended to by a technician or other trained user. That is to say, the technician identifies the data to be processed and the processing operation or operations to be applied thereto to achieve a particular result, and manually links them together to begin processing by the computer system. Consequently, in addition to the time spend on the other steps of the study, more of a technician""s valuable time is taken up for conducting or directing the image processing.
Moreover, typically once the image processing is started the systems resources are unavailable to perform other tasks, perhaps higher priority tasks (e.g., another imaging study), until the specifically requested image processing is complete. One solution to this problem (i.e., in order to have system resource available under these circumstances) is to design the computer system for some peak load which is higher than the average load and that could accommodate the parallel tasking. However, such an approach is inefficient insomuch as over time the computer system may be idle for extended periods of time and the additional resources would not therefor be fully utilized.
The present invention contemplates a new and improved technique for diagnostic nuclear imaging which overcomes the above-referenced problems and others.
In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, a method for reconstructing an image representation of a subject from data sets collected using a medical diagnostic imaging apparatus is provided. The method includes defining operations which are performed in reconstructing desired types of image representations. The operations are applicable to data sets having particular formats. Data sets having particular formats are identified, and operations and selected from the defined operations based upon the particular format of the identified data sets. After detecting a load on available image processing equipment, the selected operations are automatically performed on the identified data sets when the detected load is below a desired level.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, a medical diagnostic imaging system includes at least one imaging station. The imaging station includes an imaging scanner which collects image data from a subject positioned therein, and a control terminal from which the imaging scanner is operated. The control terminal includes a computer having a particular amount of resources for operation of the imaging scanner and image processing. The computer automatically carries out image processing when sufficient resources are available and a data set is detected for which an image processing operation is applicable.
One advantage of the present invention is that the computer systems use for image processing and running imaging experiments is defined in terms of an average load rather than a peak load.
Another advantage of the present invention is that for image processing it utilizes otherwise idle computer downtime when imaging experiments are not being conducted.
Yet another advantage of the present invention is that high efficiency and productivity result from automatically performing image processing when system resources are available.